Job Discussion Forums

[czechchick123]

Hi. I have found very little (and mostly negative) information about Noda City. I am moving there soon and would like any info you can give.

Does anyone live there? Been there? Have any tips or advice?

Thanks!

[fluffyhamster]

Well, there's a ninja in/from Noda (Soke Masaaki Hatsumi), and Kashiwa isn't far off if you get too bored (Omiya either, for that matter); and the TX (Tsukuba Express) line interchanges with the Tobu Noda line at Nagareyama-otakanomori station, providing a swift route into central Tokyo. Sorry that I don't know and therefore can't tell you much about Noda itself, but I guess that means that it isn't exactly "on the map". I've only passed through it on the train, and it looked pretty small and sleepy (I'm not sure if there's even a convenience store in sight of the station, but there are definitely a few drink vending machines at least LOL).

[radagast]

I actually lived in Noda for three months teaching for Westgate.
Compared to where I lived before that (Sendai) it is a lot easier to get to Tokyo on the weekend. The town itself is essentially a commuter town to Tokyo. It is not the most exciting place in the world but I actually enjoyed living there.

[czechchick123]

Thanks for your replies.

Radagast-can you tell me a little more about what it was like living there? Are there good restaurants/pubs, etc? Any shopping, things to see? Is it possible to get by speaking little or no Japanese? How long did it take to get into Tokyo?

Thanks again!

[fluffyhamster]

Well, my stomping ground in Tokyo was more Shinjuku (central-west Tokyo), and if you're headed that way rather than to central-eastern Tokyo (Akihabara or Ueno, say), it will make more sense to go on the Tobu Noda line from Noda-shi to Omiya (the western terminus of the TN line), then get a JR line (e.g. the Saikyo line) to Shinjuku. With a good connection and a JR express that would all only take about 70 minutes and cost no more than 850 yen one-way.

If however you intend to head into central-eastern Tokyo, it'll make more sense to use the following routes:

To Akihabara - Noda-shi to Nagareyama-otakanomori (Tobu Noda line, headed east towards Kashiwa) is four stops and takes about 14 minutes (190 yen); then change and the TX from Nag.OnoM departs about every ten minutes and takes about 27 minutes to reach Akihabara (for 600 yen, total 790 yen). Total time would therefore be about 50 minutes. That's about the most direct route into central-eastern Tokyo, but you can also go to Ueno by changing at the Tobu Noda terminus at Kashiwa onto lines like the JR Joban. This would be 100 yen cheaper than going to Akihabara, but would take maybe ten more minutes.

The Time Out guide to Tokyo is excellent and has an extremely clear and useful map of every JR and private train line and station in the greater Tokyo area, as well as one of of the subway/underground/metro system and its interchanges with the train lines.

I myself use www.yahoo.co.jp 's routefinder ( http://transit.yahoo.co.jp/ ), but there are English sites such as http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html (posted by Hoser on another thread) which seem just as dependable.

[Apsara]

I used to live near Noda, on the Saitama side of the border. I knew a few people practicing ninjutsu at the dojo there- it's world renowned among ninjas apparently.

Basically anywhere in that area to the north of Tokyo is a dormitory suburb- people sleep there but work, shop and do pretty much anything else in Tokyo or in the busier parts of Saitama and Chiba. Yes, you can get around without Japanese, as in pretty much anywhere in Japan, although the more you know, the easier your life will be.

That area is very flat with a lot of vegetable/ rice fields once you get away from the station- not particularly picturesque though. You will probably be going elsewhere for entertainment but the train system is so good in Kanto that you can get anywhere relatively quickly and easily.


Try not to live too far from the station if you can.

[uberscheisse]

my lady lives in noda. i spent a few days there when i first got to japan.

it's not the nicest place in the world, but it's easy enough to get into tokyo if you want some excitement. one thing it does have is the kikkoman soy sauce factory. i'm sure a tour of that would be a day to remember.

but seriously, it looks like your average former farm community in japan - very suburban, no highrises that i could see. they seemed to have a fairly good restaurant selection but we were driving around so it could have been far-ish from the city itself.

not an exciting place, but not overly polluted or ugly either.

[uberscheisse]

[Yawarakaijin]

I used to like ninjas as a kid. I would feel slightly embarrassed about being a grown up into ninjitsu wouldn't you?

[uberscheisse]

[Yawarakaijin]

[TokyoLiz]

Noda City is famous for Kikkoman soy sauce, which has its headquarters and factory there. You can see it out at the Edo River, which has a bike/walking path along it as far as Unga, another sleepy, no-place place that has a university campus. Further down the Tobu Noda Line, there is a bigbox shopping center at Nagareyama Otaka no Mori Station, and then Kashiwa has great food, shopping, music and pubs.

If you like river fishing or cycling, you can do that along the Tone River to the east, or the Edo River to the west.

Tokyo is not that far away from Noda, so that's easy if Tokyo is what you're after.

For train connections, I also recommend you see
www.hyperdia.com

Best not to mention anything about ninjas when you are there. The high density of people in black and swordsmen there means you're bound to meet them in the town. They're very sensitive about the ninja schtick...And they are heavily armed.

[alexcase]

I heard that you can smell the Kikkoman factory, and if it smells anything like the Ajinomoto factory in Kawasaki (next to the Tama river opposite Haneda airport) i.e. of cabbagy farts, that would be enough to put me off on its own...

TEFLtastic blog- www.tefl.net/alexcase

[uberscheisse]

i walked past the kikkoman factory, and found that it smelled like soy sauce, meaning it smelled delicious.